


burn the bridges in our town (till the point where we drown)

by justprompts



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Severus Snape, F/M, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Severus Snape Has a Heart, Sirius Black Gets a Trial, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin Raise Harry Potter, Sirius Black is a Little Shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:41:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27976767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justprompts/pseuds/justprompts
Summary: "JAMES AND LILY, SIRIUS! HOW COULD YOU!"Sirius almost killed Pettigrew at that - that traitorous piece of filth- how dare he? - how fucking dare he insinuate that he would ever betray his brother?And kill his brother. Pettigrew had killed his brother.Sirius barely realised his shoulders were shaking. His entire body was trembling, in rage, in grief, he didn't know what. He lifted his wand, a little surprised by the extent of anger coursing through his veins, and the words formed -
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Severus Snape, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 10
Kudos: 184





	burn the bridges in our town (till the point where we drown)

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to adopt and continue, thanks for reading this prompt!!!

"JAMES AND LILY, SIRIUS! HOW COULD YOU!"

Sirius almost killed Pettigrew at that - that traitorous piece of filth- how dare he? - how fucking dare he insinuate that he would ever betray his brother?

And kill his brother. Pettigrew had killed his brother.

Sirius barely realised his shoulders were shaking. His entire body was trembling, in rage, in grief, he didn't know what. He lifted his wand, a little surprised by the extent of anger coursing through his veins, and the words formed -

Peter Pettigrew raised his wand, right behind his back, and smirked - for fuck's sake - and Sirius saw him muttering a form of the blasting curse, and he realised too late what he was about to do, he was going to kill all these muggles, and it would look like Sirius did it - bloody hell, he needed to stop underestimating the little fuckwit -

The curse blasted out, and Sirius saw as if in slow motion, the way it zoomed towards the muggle apartment, and he waited for the blast, the screams, the guilt -

Nothing came. 

Nothing at all.

There was a blue shield radiating outwards from the crowd - there must be another wizard here, and he had set up a shield. Sirius mentally thanked him, whoever he was.

His eyes desperately searched for who could have stopped it, even as Peter looked around, and suddenly there was another shout -

"Crucio!"

Peter screamed. His entire body was lifted upwards, and he screamed and writhed, Sirius had never seen such a powerful cruciatus, or maybe Peter was just weak - but no, don't underestimate Pettigrew again - and who was cursing him?

Peter still hadn't stopped screaming.

"Crucio!"

Something in Sirius was sinking, a coiling feeling in his stomach, because he felt no reason to help Peter, no reason at all - maybe I should put a silencing spell on him, he thought wryly as Peter screamed and begged and shook, incoherently -

And out of the crowd behind, a figure stepped out, his wand gripped and pointed towards Peter, the red light still emerging in full flow.

A figure in death eater robes.

Sirius's eyes widened, and he took a protective stance, but it wouldn't matter anyway, something in him told him that this man was here specifically for Peter.

Peter's shrieks stopped abruptly, as the man lowered his wand a little. He was sobbing now, and Sirius couldn't bring himself to care, really.

"How fucking dare you, Pettigrew," the man said, his voice low and harsh, like he had been crying in rage.

But that voice was so familiar. He knew that voice. Who was this man?

"Please - please I d-didn't -," Peter said, stuttering and panting, as Sirius watched with wide, horrified eyes.

"You gave up their location, you fucking traitor," he said, and Sirius lowered his wand completely, his shoulders slumping.  
"She trusted you, and you gave her up!"

And just like that, Sirius realised who the man was.

He strode forward, nearer to where Pettigrew was lying and stared straight up at the man who he had despised for many years now.

Say what you will about him, but Severus Snape could throw a mean unforgivable.

___

"Give me a reason," Snape whispered harshly, his wand pressed against Pettigrew's throat, and Sirius could see him shaking too, his face contorted. "Give me a reason, and I swear I'll do it."

Sirius didn't know what made him do it, but there was something in Snape's face, something in those eyes of his, he lifted his wand a little and pointing it at Pettigrew, he said, "Stupefy!"

Snape glanced up at him, and Sirius was a little taken aback by the lack of hatred there. "Incarcerous!"

He hesitated before he put an arm around Snape's shoulders, who passed him an incredulous glare, and supported him to stand.

They both looked down at Pettigrew's body, stunned and tied up and glanced at each other once.

The glance was clear. 

The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

____

Sirius levitated Peter's body as the aurors began apparating at the scene, obliviating muggles and doing general damage control.

"Black!"

Sirius turned around and Snape wordlessly handed him a paper. 

Sirius hesitated for a second, before seeing the tilt in Snape's shoulders, the one that spoke of clear defeat and opened it.

It was a letter. Or atleast the beginning of one. 

The handwriting was unmistakably Lily's. And it said,

"In the hope that this is never read"

Underneath the title was a blank page, and Sirius looked at Snape, eyebrow raised in silent question.

"Read it, Black," he said, his lip curling, but there was none of the usual venom in his tone. "You must have some sort of code, some password, there's something written on the page - its just invisible, open it."

Sirius paused for a second, and then, tapped the paper with his wand and said,  
"I solemnly swear that I am upto no good."

Snape scoffed, looking at him derisively, until words floated on the paper.

"I sure hope not, marauder."

Sirius smiled despite himself, shaking his head, because this was exactly like Lily, and in a softer voice, said,  
"I solemnly swear that I am upto good."

Snape grimaced and leaned forward as ink appeared on the parchment, filling it line to line.

_

In the hope that this is never read, 

James and I have had our suspicions for long. We fear, especially for our son, if something were to happen to us.

The secret keeper to Potter Cottage is Peter Pettigrew. We changed from Sirius to Peter two nights before Hallow's Eve, and we hope our decision would keep us safe. Nevertheless, we agreed to write this letter, for Sirius's safety, if nothing else. 

Make peace with Remus, Padfoot, for I know in my heart somewhere, that he won't ever betray us.

And if you really are reading this, then we must be dead, so as my last wish, Sirius, tell Severus what we discussed on the full moon before Hallow's Eve. 

I love you. Take care of my son, Sirius.

Yours forever,

Lily

_

Sirius didn't even realise he was crying, until Snape put an awkward hand to his shoulder and guided him, to the side, making him sit down, and reading the letter himself once.

His hands shook as he reached the part where his name was mentioned, because Lily had thought of him. In whatever way, she had remembered him.

___

"What did Lily want you to tell me?" Snape asked, his voice rough.

The Wizengamot Trials were done, Peter in Azkaban, Sirius registered as an Animagus.

Sirius looked up at him, startled, because he had completely forgotten that.

"She - we fought that day," he began, as Snape sat down across him, his eyes intent on Sirius. "James and I, that is, we fought with Lily. It was the day after full moon, so it was only us for dinner at the cottage. And she - Lily was - " he broke off, pain clear on his face.

"Lily was..?" Snape asked, his voice gentler than Sirius had ever heard.

Sirius took a deep breath. He was the only one alive who knew of this, that Peter hadn't indirectly killed two people, he had killed three.

"Lily was pregnant, Snape," he said, and Snape inhaled sharply, his eyes widening.

"Oh, god," he said, his voice small and faint, still looking at Sirius with undivided focus.

Sirius took another deep breath.

"And she wanted to make you godfather," he said, as Snape's eyes widened even more, his face showing more expression than Sirius had ever seen.

"She wanted to make amends," he continued. "James wanted it to be Remus, of course, but Lily said that she wants it to be you. She trusted you enough for it, you see. And she wanted to put the past behind. The Auror raid at Macnair's, remember?"

Snape nodded wordlessly. How could be forget? The Dark Lord had punished him severely, for trying to protect a mudblood. He didn't kill him, and Snape knew that was only because he was too valuable to kill, too skilled with potions and the dark arts to dispose off, and the Dark Lord understood vaguely that he had some sort of strange connection with her.

"She realised you were trying to save her," he said. "James and I didn't believe her at first, but it made sense, because you were always pretty transparent when it came to Lily. She thought - that maybe you're a spy. For our side, or atleast that you're in a bad place and that you want to switch. She blamed herself a lot for everything. She thought that if she had forgiven you after the - after what happened in fifth year, you might have taken a different path. She didn't want to repeat her mistakes. If - if all this hadn't happened," his voice broke a little, "you would have been godfather to a little red haired girl, Rose Olivia Potter."

Snape, nodded, speechless, overwhelmed with happiness and grief, and love and guilt, and anger and elation all at once.

But no matter what Severus would do, he would forever cherish this.

He would have been the godfather of Rose Olivia Potter.

_

"Uncle Sev!" 

The five year old black-haired boy shrieked in delight as Severus stepped out from the floo, looking for Sirius and Remus.

"Remus!" he called, his voice echoing in the halls, and Remus and Sirius came, holding hands like couples in muggle movies.

And even after five years, standing in front of them, brought all sorts of sarcastic, snarky quips that he wanted to say.

Severus raised an eyebrow amusedly at their entwined hands, until they realised and let go, flushing.

What obvious, oblivious idiots, he thought, shaking his head.

"Hello, Severus," Remus greeted after a pause. "How are you?"

"Good," he said, nodding curtly, as Sirius smiled back. 

"You wanted me to...?" he began, looking at them impatiently. 

They both nodded in sync, and Severus forced himself to not start laughing hysterically, because why weren't these two married already?

Five minutes later, he strode out the front door, holding Harry's hand in his right and a pink picnic basket in his left - another proof that him and Sirius could never fully stop trying to provoke each other - and they walked to the nearest park, where they sat under the tree and Severus watched Harry draw.

The boy had some strange sort of obsession with dogs, and wolves and deers and all kinds of animals, Severus noted with growing alarm. 

"Uncle Sev, this is the best one yet, isn't it!?" he asked after almost every dog that he drew. 

Severus nodded and said "hmm" and "that's wonderful" at all the right places, and that seemed to satisfy Harry, which seemed like a reasonable demand, compared to what everybody else expected of him.

Suddenly, Severus realised with a little horror that he wasn't just drawing any dog. He was drawing Padfoot.

He stared at the drawing page as Harry started coloring all of them black, and realised that this just wouldn't do. 

So, Severus Snape pulled Harry across towards him and lifted up pencils and crayons, and taught him how to draw a Lily flower.

___


End file.
